Monitoring systems may be used to surveil objects and activities. The area that can be surveilled may be enlarged when using mobile monitoring devices. But, a mobile monitoring device may be prone to damage. For example, a surveillance area may include numerous obstacles that increase the risk of a crash as a mobile monitoring device navigates within the area. Further, navigating to perform a monitoring task may drain the power supply of the mobile monitoring device. For land mobile monitoring devices, a loss of power during a monitoring task may result in damage to the mobile monitoring device if, for example, the monitoring devices is stranded in a position where it is exposed to a hazard in the surveillance area. For air mobile monitoring devices, a loss of power may result in damage by falling to the ground or otherwise crashing subsequent to the loss of power.